“And it’s stark, but this is the thing: You see me today dressed in this business suit. I can go anywhere downtown. The way I talk, the way I look, I will have no problems. No one’s going to ask me to get on the ground. I will get ultimate respect because I’m Dr. Daniel Geiter.

“No one will question me because they assume I belong. But as soon as you do a background check on me the jumpsuit is what you see.

“[Then] it doesn’t matter that I’m Dr. Daniel Geiter. And the same goes for every single person that’s ever committed a felony or even had a felony arrest. This is what they see …”

“I made up my mind that my son was not going to see me as an offender, so I went back to college. And it worked for me. But I’ve been locked up with guys who were there with their dad and their grandfather …

“We’re starting Ward College to give ex-offenders something to lose: an education. Research shows that for people who have offended, attaining a degree makes the recidivism rate drop precipitously. It’s a tremendous drop-off. So a majority of our students will be current or former offenders.

“I’m wearing the jumpsuit every day until we raise $250,000.”

Dr. Daniel Geiter
Founder, Ward College
Chicago, Illinois

If you’d like to make a contribution to Ward College, you can visit their GoFundMe page here.